Aesop Gives Away Books by Women Authors at It’s Hainan Travel Retail Boutique

The activation was created with China Duty Free Group and the L’Oréal Travel Retail Asia Pacific team. It marked a new chapter for the Women’s Library, a global initiative that began in 2021 and has distributed more than 115,000 books around the world. For the Sanya edition, Aesop replaced commerce with conversation.

Visitors were invited to enter the store, browse a curated collection of writing by women and choose a title to take away without making a purchase. Each book was embossed with a commemorative stamp, creating a keepsake connected to the destination and the initiative.

The 2026 programme is titled “Follow the Tides, Anchor in the Page.” The theme draws on the island identity of Hainan, using the rhythms of the sea as a starting point for a slower, more reflective travel experience. It encourages visitors to pause in the middle of a busy duty-free environment and spend time with a book.

This shift is significant in travel retail, a channel typically built around product discovery, gifting and immediate purchases. Aesop temporarily removed product bottles from the shelves to create space for literature. The decision made the store feel less like a traditional beauty…